This Wine Goes Best With Roast Chicken

Perfect roast chicken is one of the staples of good cooking. Though there are cooking techniques that will handily help you achieve the desired result, it can sometimes be deceptively hard to get just right. However, for the true connoisseur of cuisine, knowing how to roast a chicken like a boss is merely the first hurdle. The true challenge lies in creating a meal that's worthy of the delicious bird...and this involves choosing the best possible wine to complement the dish. 

There are tons of rules about drinking and pairing wine, many of which you can break at your leisure. Even so, an aspiring sommelier may find that roast chicken can be a particularly hard nut to crack, because it can work with both red and white wine — and wine may even factor in the cooking process. So, how does one choose the best wine to go with roast chicken? Let's find out!

Roast chicken can be delicious on its own, but it can also taste like a gazillion other things, depending on the sides, spices, stuffing and sauce. So, while the chicken is rightly the star ingredient, Fiona Beckett of Matching Food and Wine says that you should always look at the roast chicken meal as a whole, and choose your wine accordingly.

Simple roast chicken without many flavor-altering extra seasonings and spices — perhaps accompanied by a creamy sauce or mushrooms — pairs extremely well with a white burgundy or a nice, oaky chardonnay. Should you prefer red wine, burgundy's not a bad choice there, either. If you're more of a pinot noir person, that's fine, too.

If you like your roast chicken with stronger flavors, you may want to alter your wine to match. If you use spicier stuffing or fruity, apricot-style flavors, go for a full-bodied Viognier white wine. Room-temperature roast chicken with salad or lemon? The Beaujolais-Villages region is worth exploring. A fan of a rustic, meaty taste, accompanied by strong vegetable flavors? A sweet bottle from the Côtes-du-Rhône Villages might be worth checking out.

Oh, and if you're unsure of what wine to choose, there are always other options. As Beckett points out, ciders, blonde ales, and even full-bodied champagnes are all very, very nice ways to wash down a delicious roast chicken meal.